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A Haunted Theater
Powell Symphony Hall was originally a vaudeville theater that opened in 1925. It was called the St. Louis Theater, which makes sense not only because it’s located on Grand Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. But that also explains the stained-glass image of St. Louis, a medieval French king. Sometimes when I was stressed at work I’d take a break: I’d sneak up the stairs to the locker room containing the stained-glass window, and I’d simply breathe slowly and gaze at the beautiful stained glass.
When I worked at the box office at Powell Symphony Hall in the 1990s, at first I got along well with my coworkers. Several of us were left-handed, and two others attended Webster University like me.
But by the time I worked there six months, immature bullies replaced pleasant coworkers. People upstairs made significant changes in the next season’s prices and seating, and patrons lashed out at box office staff instead of the well-paid administration staff responsible for the changes. The workplace was low-wage and high-stress (I know — in the U. S. that describes most workplaces).
One night — probably the week single tickets went on sale — I worked late alone in the box office. At least half the ticket orders were over the phone, but we also had walk-in patrons and mail orders. Filled-out mail-order forms for tickets would end up in a tall stack in a basket at the box…